By BILL WHITE, SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, January 4, 2007

A man wakes up in a strange hotel with no memory of who he is or how he got there. There is a dead FBI agent in his bed, $250,000 in his briefcase and a beautiful woman claiming to be his wife who helps him escape the pursuing authorities.

So begins "Code Name: The Cleaner," the first in what is sure to be a heavy spate of espionage spoofs following in the wake of "Casino Royale's" invigoration of the James Bond franchise. It is also Cedric the Entertainer's first starring vehicle.

For its first half-hour, Cedric is the whole show. As Jake Rodgers, the janitor who might be a secret agent, he has some funny moments, such as asking his butler for some Skittles, Tater Tots and an issue of Jet magazine, but is not until he discovers that his wife, Diane (Nicollette Sheridan), isn't his wife and his opulent home isn't his home that the movie kicks into gear.

Credit for that goes to Lucy Liu, who has a chemistry with Cedric that he lacked with Sheridan. From the moment he walks into the restaurant where she is waiting tables, the movie becomes an entertaining, if lightweight, chase comedy in which nobody is who they seem to be. Liu also punches up the action sequences, one of which makes inventive use of items from the custodian's closet.

Two of the funniest scenes belong to DeRay Davis, who plays a janitor with dreams of being a rap superstar. A scene in which he encourages a hit man to put a bullet in his butt in order to give him street credibility is borderline hilarious.

Much of "Code Name: The Cleaner" was filmed in Seattle, and director Les Mayfield ("The Man," "Flubber") took care to find some new angles from which to shoot the establishing shots. The sense of place is compromised, however, by studio-shot interior scenes that do not match the surroundings.